1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an accelerator position sensor arrangement structure for a motorcycle, wherein the operation of a throttle grip is detected by an accelerator position sensor and a throttle valve is driven by a control motor to control an amount of intake air for an engine.
2. Background of the Invention
Examples of vehicles; namely, motorcycles include one in which a throttle grip and a throttle valve which controls an amount of intake air for an engine are connected through a throttle wire and the throttle valve is manually operated in response to throttle operation. In recent years, there has been a vehicle in which the operation of a throttle grip is detected by an accelerator position sensor and a throttle valve is driven by a control motor. In a motorcycle of this type, wherein the throttle valve is driven by the motor, an accelerator position sensor is disposed at one shaft end of the throttle valve in a throttle body connected to an engine. Therefore, the accelerator position sensor is disposed by the side of the throttle body (see Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2001-246960, for example).
In the configuration according to the background art, wherein the throttle valve is driven by the motor, the throttle wire is connected to a position approximately equal to that of the vehicle with the throttle valve that is manually operated. Therefore, the throttle wire can be extended in the same way, which offers approximately the same operational feeling of the throttle.
However, the accelerator position sensor is disposed by the side of the throttle body. Therefore, a space is needed to dispose the sensor by the side of the throttle body. If the throttle body is disposed between a pair of left and right main frames of a body frame, it is needed to expand the gap between the main frames, which causes a problem of increased vehicle-width.